The Newbie Job
by tygralione
Summary: After Sophie and Nates retirement, Arianna notices the team has been popping up in some of the most recent news from the states. Believing the group of people she's seen in the background on several occasions has something to do with the ever increasing number of corporations being found in the wrong, she travels to meet the team, but will she like what she finds?
1. The Newbie

Today was the day. I had to get this job. I had to meet my new idols in person. I had to know I wasn't crazy for all my deducing and puzzle solving, and that they really existed.

My name is Arianna. I'm 23 years old and just finished an advanced course in criminology and law from university. I have long, wavy brown hair that reaches down to my waist and blue eyes. I'm a small girl, reaching only 160cm tall, but my friends tell me that the extra height disappeared to add to my brain. In short, no pun intended, I'm classed as a genius. My dream is to become a lawyer who stands up to big corporations for misdeeds against those who can't fight back. At least it was, until I found a better job.

There had been recent news plastered all over the TV of big companies losing billions of dollars and being toppled in the last couple years. Not many people had noticed there was a link though. As I watched more and more, I noticed that the same few people would pop up in the background in some of the photos and video recordings for the stories. I decided to check it out and found that the same group of 5 people were in almost every story's background. Sometimes they weren't facing the camera, sometimes they were, mostly with blurred faces. The censorship made it hard to determine if I was viewing the same people, but I was confident they were the same in all the videos I found. I tried Googling around. At first it came up nothing. I tried search after search after search with no result. On the last few searches, I was trying phrases like, help beat big companies USA. After 3 very similar searches, I found a site continuously coming up in my listings. Leverage Inc. The front page depicted what looked like an ancient painting of an old man; the founder. He seemed eerily similar in appearance to one of the people I'd noticed.

So I took it. There was no basis to my claims, but I decided to try it out anyway. There was no stopping my stubbornness when it was stuck. My parents paid for my plane ticket and I was off. I'd gotten accommodation in case they weren't interested in me. Of course, I was still very vague on the details of what they actually did. I don't even know if they have anything to do with the stories or if they just like to turn out to big news events to get in the paper. I sighed. There was no use overanalysing seeing as I'd already set foot off the plane. I was so fatigued I headed straight for the hotel I'd booked to sleep off the jetlag. Before falling asleep though, I used the phone in my room to ring the number on the site. A female picked up.

"Hello, this is Leverage incorporated. How may I help you?" the woman said.

"Umm, I-I'd like to set up an interview," I stuttered nervously.

"Okay," she agreed, "We have all day tomorrow free, so come in at any time; one of us will be in to take your appointment."

"Thank you," I replied awkwardly.

"See you tomorrow," she said cheerily then hung up.

_That… was weird!_ I thought. No time, just come in when you want? This was starting to feel a little dodgy. I couldn't think about it long enough though, my eyes had already drooped closed while the short conversation had taken place. I didn't even remember replacing the phone before falling asleep.

I awoke the next morning bright and early. Luckily I'd taken an early flight and had arrived mid-afternoon local time with all the stopovers. I made my way down to the lobby, grabbing some of the complimentary breakfast included in my stay. Bright and early showing up to an interview was a sign of a diligent employee. I followed the map printout I had of directions to the building and found myself outside a bar. Confused, I entered and looked around. It was unusual for a bar to be open so early, and there were only a few people inside. As I entered, the only non-employee looking person looked up at me from a table in the centre of the room. He seemed to know who I was and ushered for me to come over. I was so confused but my legs carried me over. He reached out and I took it.

"Hi, I'm Elliot," he introduced himself.

"I'm Arianna," I returned the introduction, still dithering on the spot and wondering what the hell was happening.

"Have a seat," he offered the one across from him. "You must be my appointment for the day."

So I was in the right place.

"I think so," I murmured, taking a seat. "I'm sort of nervous."

"Don't be," he encouraged.

I looked up into his rugged face. He was quite good looking and his hair was long. His smile looked so genuine I just couldn't help but relax.

"Do you always do that?" I asked.

"Do what?" he asked back confusedly.

"Disarm people," I replied, looking down.

He chuckled softly and I looked at him inquiringly.

"You don't know the half of it," he laughed.

"But I'd like to," I offered.

He seemed to hit a wall at that.

"What do you mean exactly?" he was taking this very seriously.

"I want to work for you," I confessed, "I've noticed you're company in Australia through the news from here in the states."

I pulled out my folio of pictures of all the breaking news videos with the mysterious group in it. Not all of the five were in all the pictures, just 3 or 2 here, sometimes all, but I pointed them out to him and he seemed shocked. As I went through, I found a more recent one without censorship and it was him in the background with a darker, taller male and a petite blonde woman.

"You found all of this by yourself?" he asked, worry creeping into his voice.

"Yes," I mumbled, but I reached for his hand holding the photo with the three in the background. "But I haven't told a soul. I wanted to see if you guys really existed. I wanted to know if it was you who was behind all these findings of corruption and thievery."

I rubbed his hand comfortingly and he seemed to relax a little.

"How did you find all this?" he asked, perplexed at the number of photos and evidence I had found.

"It was sheer dumb luck, I guess," I admitted, "I just saw you guys in a couple of videos. It intrigued me because I've always wanted to do what you guys do; fight for the little man who has no voice against the thunder of a huge company. So when all of these corporations were toppling or had breakthroughs in finding corruption, I was just drawn to it."

I finished my little speech and waited for his answer.

"Are you guys hearing this?" he asked with a sigh.

I looked around. We were the only two around.

"Okay, I'll bring her in," he agreed to some invisible person and then stood up. "Come on, the others want to meet you."

All I could say was, "Huh?" before he helped me up and let me through the bar into the employee-only zone. Hidden down the hall in a room to the left was a huge room with and equally huge screen to match. It was incredibly high and as I looked up to the skylight I saw her. She was dangling on a zip-line, upside down. She seemed to pout when she saw me look and lowered herself to my eyelevel.

"You're a smart one," she said before flipping around and releasing the line.

"Don't try to scare the new girl, baby," a deep voice came from the next room over.

It was the final of the three in my picture. Pressing a button on the controller he had, the monitor came to life and displayed all of my pictures and the news stories they corresponded with.

"Now I've crossed checked all those little photographs you've brought with," he continued, now talking to me. "And you are absolutely right. I honestly have no idea how we missed all this attention we've been giving to ourselves."

I smiled at what I took to be a compliment.

"She's smart Hardison," Elliot said.

"Too smart," said the girl.

"Parker," Elliot growled.

"You're name's Parker?" I inquired.

She just looked at me for a few seconds in response. _I guess I'm not getting a warm welcome from her, _I thought.

"Sorry," said Hardison, "She can be a little, her, sometimes. I'm Alec, but as you know now, everyone calls me Hardison."

"It's nice to meet you." I smiled at his odd explanation of Parker's behaviour.

There was no doubt that they were together. They seemed to be a cute couple, but I could only see it on Hardison's end for now. Then I remembered something.

"So how is it you guys were talking from here?" I asked.

"That, my dear, is a trade secret until we decide what to do with you," Hardison replied.

"Wireless inner ear communication," I rolled my eyes at how dumb he thought I was.

"Damn you are smart," he said in surprise.

I looked away and up at the screen when something caught my eye.

"Isn't that the building they had that Steranko system in?"

I remembered hearing about the break in and theft of two buildings with that same system. Both were successful by reports and the Steranko Company were copping it hard from shareholders.

I turned to find them staring at me. I was glad I wasn't overly self-conscious. My next question shocked them further still though.

"You guys are the thieves that broke into a Steranko system, not once, but twice?"

The silence intensified and it was Parker who was first to break it.

"I told you, she's too smart," she said matter-of-factly. "She's like a young, female Nate."

"Was he the other person? I wound five of you in the photos." I said, curiosity was dripping from me now.

"That was Sophie and Nate," Elliot answered, "They retired just after Christmas."

"Oh," was all I could say for embarrassment. I'd opened old wounds.

"I wanna keep her," Parker burst out randomly.

"Are you sure, baby," Hardison asked, "You don't know as much about her as I do."

She pulled out my wallet and I gasped.

"Hey!" I growled, "How did you get that?"

She just smiled and the boys rolled their eyes. She handed it back to me and I went through it. I held out my hand for the few dollars that were missing. She frowned then, obviously not liking my keen eye, and handed back the money.

"Yep, I want her," she confirmed.

"Well Nate trusted her judgement," Elliot conceded, "but I'm not as sure. We'll give you a test run. We need to know we can trust you're on our side, us being thieves and all."

I laughed. "Minor details make up the whole, and what you guys are achieving is amazing. If that's what it's taking to get better results than anyone else, I don't think it's that big of a deal."

Elliot chuckled at me.

"Wow," he said, "you're a firecracker show and half with all the surprises you've given me today."

"I guess you're in," said Hardison. "We all normally stay here at base, but if you don't want to, you're more than welcome to stay at your own accommodation."

"I've already paid a week's stay up the road," I sighed, "I'll never get that money back. It would be good to have some shopping money."

"Speak no more," he replied, smiling.

A few presses of a couple buttons and my hotel records jumped up on screen.

"And you are now checked out with your luggage being delivered here."

"Wow," a gasped, "You're a hacker. That's amazing. Wait, do you hack in game too?"

He looked sheepish and surprised at the same time.

"But hacking takes the fun out," I teased. "I thought someone smart enough to hack would be able to handle a game."

He bit at my challenge hard.

"You think you can beat me? Well you, me, game now."

We ended up on League of Legends with an equal score for at least an hour. Deciding that a tie was inevitable, the guys went to check that the bar was running smoothly in their absence and I was left alone with Parker.

"How did you get so smart," she asked me about five minutes into the silence that had spread.

"I don't know," I admitted, "Some people call me a genius, though I've never had my I.Q tested."

"So you just pick up on little details really easy?" she continued her interrogation.

"Yeah, it's more of a habit, but it comes in handy when talking to people," I replied, "I've never lost anything. What I find amazing is I never noticed you take my wallet. How did you do that?"

"It's just something I picked up as a kid," she said aloofly, though she smiled at the compliment.

"You could do that as a kid?" I was in awe.

"Yeah," she giggled. Her face brightened then. "Do you want to learn?"

"Yes!" I accepted eagerly.

A talent that could escape my eye was something I'd never seen before. Even with magicians I saw on TV, I could always find the sleight of hand or trick that made the magic. She showed me the trick to it and I was amazed at how easy it really was. We heard the boys return and Parker winked at me. I got the message and stood to go greet them. When they came in, I passed them, barely touching them, but acquiring both wallets at once. They turned to look at me and I held up their items.

"Goddamnit Parker!" Elliot shouted, "We don't need another kleptomaniac on the team."

Parker and I burst into laughter and Hardison seemed to be amused as well. i handed back their stuff and sat down next to Parker again, high-fiving her.

"I don't want you trying that out anywhere else, you hear me?" Elliot warned and I crossed my heart through silent giggles.

This was going to be fun.


	2. The Mark

I spent the rest of the day learning all about Leverage and how it worked. The team seemed a little wary of me for the most part. I could only assume it was from the fact that I wasn't a criminal before. I was determined to prove myself though, to earn their trust. They showed me some of the jobs they'd done before, including Steranko ones. They were incredibly intricate, but brilliantly thought out. They told me that Nate used to be what they called the mastermind. It must have been hard losing their boss and leader on their crusade against the corporations. Parker warmed up to me more and more and by the afternoon, we were upside down high up near the ceiling together. She seemed really enthusiastic on training me and I was an eager student, much to Elliot's displeasure.

"What's Elliot's problem?" I asked Parker as she was teaching me a new manoeuvre she'd invented.

"Oh, he's always a grouchy face," she replied dismissively, "Now just tuck your legs in and you'll feel yourself roll back, but that's meant to happen."

As I rolled back, I caught a glimpse of Hardison trying to beat the score I'd gotten on his new pinball machine. Suddenly my chest felt tight. I gasped and let go of the rope I was holding. Falling from great heights is not fun when you can't breathe, let me tell you that. I thought I was going to hit the ground but Parker caught me mid fall, returning me back to earth quickly.

"What's wrong with her?" she panicked.

I grasped at my chest, needing air to come. I reached behind me to motion to rub my back. I was leaned forward and Parker started rubbing quickly. Elliot joined in and in a few minutes my breathing normalized.

"What the hell was that?" Elliot half yelled in worry.

"I have a heart defect," I panted softly, "I completely forgot about it; I was having so much fun."

"You scared us half to death," he scowled.

"And I was the one close to it," I retorted.

He went silent and helped me to my feet.

"I need to rest," I told them. "Which room am I staying in?"

Hardison groaned softly and we all turned to look at him.

"Well," he started, sheepish, "When Nate and Sophie left, I sort of took over their rooms, see. So we don't have a spare room."

"You what?" Elliot snarled.

"Hey!" Hardison yelled defensively, "I didn't think we would have a new teammate for a while yet."

Elliot groaned. "I'll sleep on the couch."

"You don't have to," I told him, "I can sleep there; I'm a lot smaller."

He looked at me and rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine," I insisted, "I just need a little rest."

I moved slowly to the couch and lay down. Hardison turned the main lights off and murmured about closing up. Parker got me a blanket I thanked her. The day had gone by so fast, but the heart episode had taken the most out of me. I closed my eyes waited for sleep to come. Everyone had wandered off in to different rooms so I was confused when I felt a strong arm under my legs and neck.

"What are you doing?" I groaned, not opening my eyes.

"A hard bed isn't the best for sleeping after that," Elliot's voice came from above me.

"Well I don't care so put me back,," I whined.

He set me back down, but it was softer than before.

"I said I'd be fine on the couch," I murmured, drifting now.

Next thing I knew, it was morning. I got up and left the room to find everyone awake before me. I took my medicine for my heart and went back to bed. I had this habit of getting drowsy and saying anything on my mind when they took effect, but I never remembered anything and ended up knocked out for an hour. I told everyone I was heading back to bed and told Elliot he was an idiot and that I should beat him up. Everyone laughed at that. Considering his arms were like tree trunks, I understood completely and even laughed at myself. I lay back down to rest and I heard someone enter. I panicked internally but lay still.

"Arianna?" Elliot's voice questioned.

I stayed still and he sighed in relief. He moved around a bit before leaving. Just as he went to leave, my meds kicked in. _Crap,_ was the last thing I remember thinking before waking up in the empty room. I got up and found I was alone. Wondering vaguely where everyone went, I wandered out and further down the hall. I felt a thumping as music kicked in up ahead of me and followed it to a door labelled gym. Opening the door I saw Elliot, shirtless and covered head to toe in sweat. His back bore so many scars, it was hard to count and I gasped as I saw one that looked fresh. He didn't notice me creep inside and close the door. He was practicing boxing with a punching bag. His arms moved so quickly, his mock dodging precisely timed, it was fascinating. I wished I could be as physically fit as him. Damn heart condition. He took his gloves off then and went for his water bottle when he noticed me.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked between pants.

"I couldn't find anyone but you," I admitted sheepishly as the music disappeared.

"Well there's more to America than just this little place," he offered.

"But you guys are my only friends," I said quietly, looking away from his stare.

He wandered over to me and slid down the wall to sit. He must have been in here the whole hour I was out. We sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes before he spoke up.

"So I have beautiful eyes, do I?" he asked, scoffing a laugh.

I looked up at him and groaned, "Damn meds."

"So loopy drugs help the heart," he chuckled.

I laughed too. "I guess so."

"Well. I'll know to look out for them again," he added, still laughing.

I looked at the crinkles in his eyes and smiled. He was having too much fun with this.

"What happened to Mr Grouchy?" I teased, "You're being way too happy to be the same person."

He just laughed harder at that. He seemed to be releasing a lot of stress, at my cost.

"At least that's not the worst I've heard," I sighed.

"Oh?" he said questioningly.

I nodded. "I had this boyfriend in high school. He didn't know about my medication and let's just say I insulted a friend of his that may or may not have been rather small. I guess I didn't have a boyfriend after that incident. He wouldn't believe that I was drugged when I said it."

He laughed harder at that and I did too. It was nice to just have someone to talk with.

"Wow, you really have to be careful," he panted between laughing fits, "It's not just your heart but the stuff that helps you that causes harm."

"Yeah," I agreed and stood.

"That's too bad," he sighed. "Would you like me to make some lunch? I'm starving."

I nodded and we headed down the hall. He led me out into the kitchen behind the bar and Elliot started grabbing ingredients left right and centre. The chef in the kitchen didn't seem to mind as he heated up a frying pan. As he cooked, his finesse dumbfounded me. The attention to small detail, making sure that everything was ready at the exact time and how much effort he put in just for a lunch. We ended up eating the most beautiful meal that looked five star restaurant quality and the taste was amazing.

"How did you learn to do that?" I asked after swallowing a bite.

"What? Cook?" he asked. "Well that's a long story, I guess I just really enjoy the art of it. Cooking is like art. You try to convey your feelings through your work."

"Wow," was all I could say.

I'd never thought of food that way. It always just seemed a necessity to live and you just chose what you liked. This was something way more to him. This was the fanciest meal I'd ever had though, and it did taste different.

"Good?" he questioned as I just stared at my plate.

I blushed. "Yes, it's amazing."

"This is my favourite dish to cook for the others," he told me. "It's intricate, delicate and packs a punch all in one. I like to think of it as our team's signature dish."

I saw the resemblance. Intricacy was Hardison's hacking skills, delicacy would be Parker's skills at theft and the punch was, well, obviously Elliot.

"Hey, you made us," Hardison's voice came from behind Elliot.

"Aww, did we get some?" Parker joined him.

I smiled and looked towards the kitchen. Taking my hint, they left to go get the two extra plates that had been left out back.

"You think of everyone," I murmured.

"Yeah," he smiled, "I would have never heard the end of it if I hadn't. It's their favourite dish too."

Hardison and Parker re-joined us then. Elliot groaned as Hardison insisted that he "sit next to his girl," therefore ending up with Elliot beside me in the booth rather than across.

"Hey Elliot," said Parker, "this seems different than usual."

"How so?" Elliot questioned, a smile on his face.

"Well there's an extra quirk to it," she explained, "Like a zesty flavour that surprises you. And you've changed the way it looks too. It's neater. It gives it a sharper look. It make me feel…"

She trailed off. Elliot smiled and Hardison and I looked at each other confusedly.

"Happy and at home, but with a feeling of new and fresh," she finished.

She beautifully described the dish.

"Good work Parker," Elliot complimented.

She smiled and continued eating.

"I have no idea what just happened," Hardison mumbled, "but y'all are right; this is good food."

He began shovelling it into his mouth and Elliot groaned.

"You just don't get it Hardison."

It was going to take me a while to understand these kinds of conversations. We finished lunch, Elliot explaining that Parker had learnt a bit about expression through art forms from him, Hardison complaining that it was just food and not such a big deal and then the boys getting into a fight over the food. We all headed out back where Elliot left for his room to cool off and Hardison played on a pinball machine in his private arcade. I ended up spending time with Parker again.

"I think Elliot needs to calm down a little about his food," I admitted, "I know it's important to him, but you have to expect people not to understand as much."

"Hardison can be a little insensitive too," Parker added, "He's kind, but he can be very blunt. I guess it's just them together that gets them fighting. They've never really gotten along that well on the surface."

"Yeah," I agreed, "History and opposing personalities."

"It's not my fault he can be pig-headed," Elliot said as he entered.

"And you can be grumpy and too serious," I added, poking my tongue out at him.

"We have a client coming in tomorrow so I need everyone ready," he told us, ignoring me.

"Who is it?" Parker asked.

"Man by the name of Daniel Mortague," Elliot replied, "He works in construction."

"I wonder what his problem is," I sighed.

This was all new to me. I knew we'd be breaking laws from tomorrow onward and my morals were starting to battle inside me. How would I handle it when it was actually happening now I was spazzing out just thinking about it. I know I told them I'd be okay, but that night I couldn't sleep at all. My head just wouldn't shut up about how wrong it was to break the law. I tried hard to fight back, but both sides seemed equally matched and the battle just kept raging. When I awoke, I found the team gathered at the desk, scanning over documents that Hardison had on-screen and I yawned loudly as i joined them. He was going through all the information on what they called the 'mark'. Eli Markus was the target of our operation. He was 52 years of age and still head of his own company, Fun in Life, which made kids playgrounds. Apparently, one shipment had been made structurally unsound; a super frame that had been built inside a shopping mall. The client was both a builder who took part in the construction of the colossal playground, but also a father of one of the children who had been seriously hurt in the collapse. He claimed that he had helped build more than one of these structures and that every single one had been the same structurally. During the first build he'd taken part in, he'd noticed that some of the materials were at odd lengths and seemed to be made of flimsy and degraded materials. Tests were always carried out on the materials to make sure they were durable, and all of them checked out, but after the collapse, the debris was carried away and destroyed before retesting. The overlooking of such procedures incurred a large fine on the company's part which was payed easily. The company never took responsibility for harming at least 20 children in the collapse because they were never directly linked. It passed off as a fault during construction, not the structure itself.

"Those poor kids," I murmured.

"Now, from what the client tells us, the materials are being bought cheap and aren't meant for large structures," Hardison continued, "What we need to do is scare them into going straight. There's no use bringing it down when they are the largest, and basically only, supplier of all sizes of children's playgrounds. They also donate to schools and charity auctions every year. This makes me believe that Eli isn't aware of what's going on with his company. Either that, or he's just playing nice."

"So we check him out, see what kind of person he is, and then work from there," Parker summarised.

"Exactly," Hardison agreed.

"What about all those playgrounds that could collapse at any moment?" Elliot asked.

"We'll be handling that too," Hardison smiled, "I have here-" he clicked his remote, "A warrant that I just wrote up myself stating that all these playgrounds need to be closed due to investigation into the suspicious collapse and to be evaluated by an inspector. Parker will be Eli's new personal assistant with his old one receiving an all expenses payed trip to Hawaii. I will be the investigator delivering the notice and Elliot will be the inspector for the playgrounds."

"What if they have their own, 'dependable' inspector?" Elliot questioned again.

"That's easy," Hardison shrugged in reply, "The documents state that an inspector has been assigned already and that use of any other would be a violation that could see his company shut down."

I smiled. This was amazing, illegal, but amazing. It was obvious that the cases they took were not going to be won by any legal means, though.

"What about me?" I asked

"You will be here with me monitoring everyone's activities," Hardison said, "We're bugging Eli's office and I might need to have a second role at any point in time. You're new to this so we need to teach you the easy stuff first, plus with your keen eye, you'll be able to detect anything that goes miss quicker than any of us."

I frowned but sighed. Of course it would be a newbie start for me, but I did expect something a little more exciting. I realized then that the noisy morals that had kept me up all night had finally shut up. Hearing how much suffering had been caused and how much this was going to save innocent people from terrible tragedies and set my mind at ease. I smiled at the team.

"It's go time!" I shouted in excitement.


	3. The Reunion

_**Okay! Third chapter! Finally found the inspiration to finish it. I really enjoy getting reviews, so anyone and everyone, I encourage your critiques, ideas, etc. Please send them to me. :) This chapter brings a little more emotional development with a surprise at the end. Just cross your fingers that this inspiration continues on to a streak of chapters. Enjoy! :D**_

* * *

The rest of the day was spent determining a plan based on a variety of catalysts. Parker had already left to bug the office and we now had a clean view of the entire room. She'd been accepted easily by Eli and gave him no reason to mistrust her. Working diligently at her "job", she'd made it in.

"He seems kind enough," Parker mentioned when she got back to headquarters. "He got me to fill out a couple cheques today. One was for a charity and another for an orphanage. They weren't from a business account either. These were from his personal accounts."

"We'll give it a little more time and check out the other sites before we decide which plan to take," Hardison insisted.

"I haven't seen anything suspicious either," I added, "Just a Parker prowling around for evidence."

"Which I didn't find any of," Parker replied, smiling. "There's nothing on paper about records for buying the materials or anything."

"Plus there's also nothing on his computer or any other computer in the building," Hardison continued. "But we'll find out what's going on baby."

"He's very clean if this is his doing," I sighed.

"If you're going to endanger lives, that'd be how you'd want it," Elliot said gravely.

We fell into silence at that. No one could deny that whatever was happening was bad, but Eli, from what we'd seen, didn't match the description of someone who would be so callous. Whoever was the mastermind in this scheme, I knew it couldn't be him.

"We'd better get some sleep," Elliot yawned after a few minutes.

"Now I am on the couch tonight," I said smiling, elongating each word as if to help him understand something difficult.

Hardison and Parker laughed, but Elliot just rolled his eyes. I laughed too and added, "Don't think I didn't notice you rubbing your back yesterday and today."

Elliot had insisted I'd taken his bed again last night and he hadn't been taking no for an answer. I lay down on the hard piece of furniture and watched everyone leave. The next morning was brighter than the two before. The ceiling high above me let the sunshine into every part of the room, and there had been no escape. Groaning, I uncovered my blanketed face and sat up, a twinge in my back. I stretched and winced as my shoulder pulled weirdly. I hoped Hardison would clear out a room and give me my own bed soon. I got up and went to the bathroom for my medicine. When I came back I was still alone so I lay down and slept again. I awoke to the smell of bacon and I followed it to the kitchen. I had to admit that I knew it would be Elliot standing there. He smiled as I entered and I leaned over the pan to immerse myself in the aroma.

"That smells so good," I moaned. "When will it be ready?"

"Soon," he replied nonchalantly.

Scowling at his lack of an informative response, I sat down on one of the metal tables behind him. When he turned to plate the bacon, he copied my expression.

"You know that's not good hygiene," he pointed out as he dished out our breakfasts.

I pouted but conceded and jumped off the bench and decided to join Parker on the couch.

"Breakfast ready?" she asked.

"Soon," I mimicked Elliot.

I decided then was the time to ask her about something that was bothering my thirst for details.

"What's your first name?"

It was my turn to play interrogator.

"It's been a long time since anyone's asked me that," she sighed, as if nostalgically.

I waited silently for her reverie to end.

"I honestly forget it sometimes," she explained, concentrating harder now. "It's been so long. It started with a B…"

She sat for a few moments then shrugged and told me she'd let me know when she remembered. The bacon, eggs, toast and tomatoes arrived on a small cart then and Elliot handed the dishes out. I quickly passed my tomatoes to Parker, who seemed to devour her own in mere seconds. She smiled in appreciation and tried to talk, but couldn't with the amount of food in her mouth.

"Wish you'd let me know you didn't like tomato," Elliot mumbled.

"It's okay," I replied, "Parker seems to enjoy the extras."

She nodded enthusiastically in agreement and swallowed, needing to inhale deeply afterwards. I laughed at how adorably innocent she could be sometimes.

"Thanks man," I heard Hardison say from his room.

That day the force closure of all the playgrounds constructed by the Fun in Life corporation occurred under Hardison's orders. Elliot arrived at the main offices with him as Stan Leith, construction supervisor and inspector A break in the case was made when we got to see Eli's more aggressive business side, and boy, was it bad. Someone had mixed up an order for parts for the newest construction operation. He threw the documents everywhere, shouting about incompetent fools, then commanded his secretary to pick them up. That was all the evidence we needed to convince us that the nice act we'd seen was just that; an act. Elliot brought the news that the materials in most of the newer playgrounds were indeed inferior materials that were either flimsy of hollowed out to give the image of strength. The older ones, however, were constructed solidly with dependable materials and he couldn't find a single structural problem with any of them.

"I've found the import records for structure pieces," Harrison called from the main room that night. "They show no change in companies or price since the company first started."

"So he's not saving by using dodgy products, or at least, not on the record," I sighed.

"If he is, he's keeping everything looking legit," Parker scowled.

"Well, if he's keeping it squeaky, there must be something dirty going on," stated.

I stared at each of my team-mates' faces. We al knew this guy had to be rotten, and he was doing a damn good job of it if both Hardison, with his amazing computer skills, and Parker, who had checked all the paper files, couldn't find any dirt.

"We'll continue tomorrow," Hardison relented in frustration.

We could all feel this case getting to us; evidence but no evidence. It was so confusing why the pieces wouldn't fall into place. We all went to bed that night a little disgruntled. I sat up on my couch late, looking at the glow that the full moon cast down through the high ceiling. Parker's form cast a deep shadow across the room and I smiled at her bat-like sleeping style, although Hardison expressed concern for her safety. To appease him, an emergency safety harness and line were attached to her thin frame as she slept. Feeling as though sleep was far from me, I got up and wandered over to the large screen layout, dragging my pillow and a sheet with me. Hardison had showed me the basic operations to watch television and check the surveillance feed. I turned on the screen and flicked through the channels on a low volume. Wrapped up to keep warm, I watched a bit of news, some late night cartoons, the discovery channel and some history show on Japanese culture. Nothing could hold my interest for too long so I began flicking through the seemingly endless list of channels without paying too much attention to what was on each channel. I decided to change over to the surveillance but, as I'd expected, the room was darkened and empty. I scanned over the rooms contents, soaking up as much as I could about the layout. A noise behind me made me jump and shriek in surprise.

"You prick!" I growled as the TV illuminated Elliot's face. "You scared the crap out of me!"

A half smile was plastered on his face.

"You know that noise you made was kinda cute," he chuckled.

I threw my pillow at him, which he caught easily, and tried to hide my embarrassment.

"What are you doing up?" I asked pointedly.

"I could ask you the same thing," he smirked. "You didn't sleep well last night so you should really be sleeping."

"How do you know that?" I growled.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realise bad sleep when the person wakes up around midday," he responded with a scowl.

I sighed and relaxed. I felt like an idiot for not remembering such a major detail.

"I just can't sleep," I mumbled, resting my head in my hand and staring back at the screen.

I felt him sit next to me but I refused to meet his gaze, even as he placed a hand on my arm.

"We need everyone to be at 100% for these jobs," he muttered. "If you can't deal with what we're doing, you can always qu-"

My aggravated stare cut him off.

"I know I don't come from the same background as the rest of you, but I have been putting 20% more effort into this than I have anything else in my life," I growled, pulling my arm away.

He returned my look of anger but then softened.

"I was just trying to look out for you," he said, looking at the table.

This stunned me a little. The small act of kindness, albeit not unwelcome, was totally uncharacteristic of his nature as I had seen it in the short period of time since we'd met. The only exception being when he had met me as a client. I knew this had to have been a facade after spending just ten minutes with the group, but looking back, it seemed weird to me now as well.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, "I just don't want to give this up, but I don't want you guys second guessing and doubting me. You think I can't see it, but I can. The stares I get all the time from you and Hardison. It's in your eyes. 'Can she really handle this? Is she going to bail because of what we do? Is she too good to work knowing we don't follow the laws?' Only Parker looks at me like I belong here."

I finished without looking at him any more. We sat in a terse silence for a while before I decided I was tired enough for bed.

"I'll sleep now," I yawned, getting to my feet. "Need to be 100% and all that."

I shuffled past Elliot's pensive form and fixed my couch bed. The scraping of a chair told me he had followed my lead and the faint glow from the TV disappeared. Without saying anything, I laid down and stared at the ceiling again as feet shuffled towards me. Though I knew Elliot was there, he could not see the cat-like eyes that stared down at us. I smiled and nodded and they disappeared. The sound of someone sitting near my head made me face the man before me.

"I'm sorry," Elliot apologised. "I don't think we mean to do it. We just want to make sure that you really grasp the situation you, and all of us, are in. Not a day will go bye where one of us isn't risking their neck in one way or another. The cops have caught onto us a couple times, and by sheer luck, we've slipped away. Things don't always go to plan and if they don't, there's not always a contingency plan to get us out. Parker, Hardison and I, we have all done this stuff for years. For you, who's not only new to the game, but has never had any experience dealing with anything remotely high risk. It's not easy to get accustomed to having to protect a team-mate as much when everyone else has always been able to hold their own."

I blinked at him. I knew they had been wary, and I knew they were always looking at me, but I'd always thought of it as bad. In my defence, at the start, the looks had been more the way I'd seen them. Looking back, I could see the difference in then and how I'd seen them more recently. The concern was there regardless of time, but it was softer now than before, which had always looked aggravated somewhat.

"I guess I should have trusted the team more than just on perceptions," I sighed, "butit's still hard to deal with the scrutiny of everything I do. So if am to trust you guys more, I need your trust in return as well. Trust that I can take care of myself. I can learn to do the things you do in the field, and if not, I can learn the more technical stuff from Hardison so he can be out there with you guys."

His eyes glowed in the moonlight as he grinned.

"I'd say that's a fair deal to me," he replied. "Now get some sleep, 100%, remember?"

"20% more than that," I smiled as he patted my arm and I rolled over.

I never heard his footsteps as he left, but I could have sworn a breeze had picked up and messed my hair as I nodded off.

_'Strange,' _I thought, _'There's no window open.'_

The next morning was another bright start, but at least it was an early one as well. I immediately took my medicine, realising I hadn't the morning before, and went back to sleep before anyone would find me out of my mind. The second awakening was due to a sudden weight on my legs.

"Parker," I grumbled groggily, "What are you doing on me?"

"Elliot told me to," she replied innocently. "He said to tell you not to forget the extra 20%."

"Damn him," I growled, stumbling as I stood and moving to the kitchen.

He smirked at my dishevelled appearance and I grimaced.

"Hey there sleeping beauty," he chuckled. "You should go check the mail like that."

Ignoring the mockery, I moved to do as he suggested. There were quite a few letter stacked in the mailbox from the previous week. I doubted that mail was as important as a job, but they could at least remember to get it more often. I sifted through and piled the letters to the same recipient together. Though I was a little surprised to find some names that I didn't know, what was more surprising was the triplicate of the same delicately decorated envelope, each addressed to a different member of the team.

"I wasn't serious," Elliot growled as he saw me return with arms full.

"You guys all got the same letter," I said, still ignoring him.

I handed over his letter then proceeded down the hall to deliverer the rest to the others, dropping the unknown names onto the main table as I went. I eagerly sat next to Parker as she opened the little envelope. Inside was a wedding invitation.

"Well damn, they finally set a date." Hardison smiled.

"They want to have the reception here," Elliot pointed out as he delivered our breakfasts to us.

"That would be super cool!" Parker beamed and bounced excitedly.

"My invite says to bring Parker as my date," Hardison said. "Well I don't know anyone else I'd bring."

"Mine says bring you too," she added, still bouncing.

Luckily Elliot had served us at the table and her plate wasn't on her lap.

"I got plus one," Elliot scowled.

"Well I'm sure you know someone who would want to go with you," I spoke up.

He stared at me a minute then went to say something, but was interrupted by the bell that meant the door had opened. It was before hours so I decided to follow from curiosity. Elliot grabbed a bat on his way out but when I caught up with him, he was in a tight hug with one of the intruders and the bat was left at the door frame. When I finally got to see their faces, I immediately knew who they were. Nate Ford and Sophie Devareaux had finally made an appearance to me, other than in my news clippings.

"We just got the invites," Elliot was saying as I hung back to let them have their moment.

"Well it was inevitable," Nate chuckled as he shook hands with Elliot. "Though she still won't tell me her real name."

"I told you, wouldn't it be better to find out when we actually get married?" she replied, seemingly frustrated.

I giggled at the ease of their conversation and Sophie caught my eye. I looked down and retreated to the table for dinner. I wasn't sure how to act with these new people. I'd gotten along easily with the team up until that point, but I knew hardly anything about Nate and Sophie other than the jobs that I'd been told about. They soon joined us in the back room and I sat uneasily as the five rejoiced in their reunion. I saw the original Leverage team in the flesh as they chatted excitedly about what had happened since their division and what was to come. Every now and again, either Nate or Sophie would flick their vision over to me seated awkwardly alone.

"So," Nate started, "who is this lovely young woman?"

I knew the topic would come to me at one point, but it didn't mean I hoped it wouldn't.

"That's Arianna," Parker replied exuberantly, coming over and walking me back towards the group.

"Well it's nice to meet you," Sophie smiled, offering her hand after she gave Parker a surprised look.

"It's nice to meet you too," I mumbled.

It wasn't just the fact that these two were new to me that caused me to shy, but the fact that I was in the presence of the person responsible for the creation of the team I knew, the mastermind. Gazing between the two visitors I let my eyes wander. What I saw was stunning and the words escaped my lips before I had thought them

"Are you pregnant?"

* * *

_**Surprise! :D**_


	4. The Two Piece Jigsaw

_**I had some really good ideas come back from my last chapter and they really helped in the writing of this one. I've finally made it to the part I've had in my head for weeks. I would also like to encourage reviewing. I want to keep my readers happy and anything gone amiss or could be improved is perfect feedback for me, plus your own ideas may make it into the story. All you need to do is suggest it. I'm very open to other people's views. Well, enjoy~ :D**_

* * *

It was only slight, imperceptible to the untrained eye, but there were certain signs that I knew could be nothing else. Though I was young, I had two older sisters who were happily married with kids. Being around them, I'd unknowingly earned the signs of pregnancy. Only when I'd noticed before anyone else on Sierra's last pregnancy had a realised how much I absorbed. I'd done my homework as well. Of course people have normal changes in their physical appearance on a day to day, and especially longer, basis. So I sought to find the differences and train my knowledge further.

"Did you guys find another Parker?" Sophie laughed at my abrupt question.

Nate followed her lead, more earnestly than his partner.

"I'm so sorry." I blushed at my outburst.

"It's okay," Nate chuckled. "We're used to Parker-ish behaviour."

I stayed silent, cursing myself internally for my lack of fore-thought.

"She's like you Nate," Parker chirped. "She's really smart."

"Not so much," I mumbled.

"So how did this all happen?" Sophie asked exuberantly.

Elliot, Parker and Hardison all told the story of my arrival and the events since. Parker seemed eager to announce every few minutes how smart I was. At some point Nate asked to see how our current job was going. As I was in charge of watching monitoring the video feed, they all insisted I told them about my part in the job. The guys soon got into watching a football game, which we girls weren't fussed on, so the three of us went to open the bar. Once we were done, Parker got ready and left to go to her job beside Eli. Sophie and I were left alone as we got some lemonade and found a room out back with a view of everyone else.

"So you have me alone now," I stated bluntly. "You've been wanting this since I first talked. You want to know how I know your secret?"

Her reaction was sort of comical the way her mouth fell open with an audible 'pop' and her eyes widened.

"How did you know all this?" she asked quietly, leaning towards me to ensure we weren't overheard.

"That bump can't be anything but baby," I replied. "Even before the beginning of the larger growth later in the pregnancy, the changes in the body cause a change in appearance. The way you held your arms closer to the front of your body and slowly moved them up and down showed irritation in your breasts, most likely the fact they are tender. It was also obvious you a re wearing a bra a size too small, meaning you haven't gone shopping for one to to accommodate the growth of your bust. The way your hands rested half open across your stomach showed protectiveness of covering a weak point. This isn't visible to a lot of people other than the person themselves, mostly because it is unnecessary information to anyone else not experiencing it at the time and they do not tend to look for them. I just found it interesting to research and view."

I took a long sip on my drink as the information sunk in and she rested her head in her hands.

"I didn't think anyone would notice," she groaned. "I thought it would be safe to see the team again and that no-one would see through me."

"Sorry," I apologised.

"No," she replied, shaking her head. "This isn't your fault. It's mine for keeping it a secret from Nate. I just don't know how to tell him. He has this plan for us to go straight. To work and earn the money that we need to live. We haven't got much money because he won't let me use any of it from my old accounts and he won't use his."

"I'm sure he would if he knew you needed it that badly," I suggested, trying to console a now tearful Sophie.

"I know," she admitted. "But I wanted to try it too. I wanted to try living honestly and leave all my crimes behind me so I could settle down. It's too dangerous to have a kid with all that in your life."

She gestured to the boys now looking at a split screen between Parker and Eli, and the game. I sighed as I saw all 6 eyes glued to the game side. Sophie smiled as she saw my reaction and wiped her tears away.

"You'll get used to it," she chuckled. "But they really do pay the utmost attention to the job. Well, most of the time. Watch game release times with Hardison. He has a tendency to stay up all night playing."

she winked and we both laughed.

"So what are you going to do about Nate?" I asked.

She sighed and said, "I'll tell him when we get home, but if he asks before, I won't lie to him."

I nodded in agreement and we continued chatting until the boys' game finished in a mixture of shouting in victory and defeat. We returned to them and the screen was turned back to full monitoring mode.

"I guess it's time to leave," Nate sighed, still chuckling at the money he had won from the other two.

"We'll miss you guys," Elliot replied, shaking Nate's hand and receiving a big hug from Sophie.

"Y'all come back soon, 'kay?" Hardison called after them as they left.

"Sophie seems so amazing," I breathed.

"They both are," Hardison agreed.

"What was with that little outburst at Sophie?" Elliot inquired.

I shrugged. "Just me guessing wrong and not keeping my mouth shut."

I knew Sophie would want to tell the team herself when she let out the good news. Though I discovered it by accident, I felt like I was privileged with information that no-one else knew about her, for now at least.

Elliot seemed to drop it, but I knew he didn't believe me. The glare he gave me in silence gave no doubt in my mind that the subject wasn't dropped completely. This seemed to be missed by Hardison completely.

" 'S all good," he said, "Everyone makes mistakes every now and again."

He left then to go write up documents showing the grading of the playgrounds based on Elliot's findings. Tonight, we planned to decide on a final course of action on Eli; whether to force him into closure with the overwhelming evidence we'd accrued, or, if we found new evidence in the remaining hours of the day, what other action we should take. Most of the team, however, seemed convinced he was guilty and were already setting up based on their personal views and the knowledge that at least two of the others agreed with them. Guess who was the odd one out. I just couldn't see how a man who generously donated thousands to charity from his own pocket would skimp on supplies just for that cause. Surely he wouldn't put anyone at risk just to save others, especially when the money could be donated through his business. I knew something was amiss, so did they, but they seemed to see it as the bad outweighs the good in this situation.

"I just can't put my finger on it," I groaned to myself.

"Well tonight we're deciding," Elliot sighed, "So if you can't find any evidence today that shows otherwise, we're going to have to go with our plan to take him down."

"I just hope that's the right course of action," I grumbled.

He put his hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. I exhaled and smiled back. '_Damn him!' _I thought as he left to go do more work finding evidence against our Mark. He seemed to have an affect on me, but I wasn't sure if I was liking the way I he could get me to drop a fight so easily. I scowled at his back until it disappeared, then, with nothing else to do, turned to the surveillance on screen. I begged to myself, _'Please! Let me find the missing piece, before it's too late.'_

After hours with eyes glued to the screen, everyone returned and encouraged me to join in their discussion, but I just shrugged them off. I wanted so badly to see something hidden in the expansive office I had view of, but the lights were out and everyone had left. I could feel the others stare at me as I continued to watch the same picture until they agreed on the main plan course together. As they asked me if I wanted to add anything, I replied that they were still missing something, but that they could go ahead with the plan as I didn't have any new evidence to go against them. They seemed to accept my response half-heartedly. As the night drew on, the team dragged themselves to bed.

"Oh," Hardison called as he reached his room, "The spare room's been set up, so you can sleep there from now on 'stead of that nasty, hard-ass couch."

I nodded absently as sleep began to take its hold. My eyes would barely stay open as my head lay on my folded arms. I tried everything to keep them open and stuck to the television, but somehow my body conceded to defeat before I let it. When I awoke, I was in a beautifully decorated white room. The bed a slept in was a four-poster with navy blue hangings. I stretched and wondered vaguely how I got myself into bed in my sleep. Pushing the thought aside, I got up and took my medication. I heard a knock at the door then. I quickly redressed myself, realising I looked a mess after missing a shower the night before, and opened the door. Elliot stood there with a plate of food on a bed tray.

"I don't think I deserve breakfast in bed," I yawned, letting him enter and set it down on the bed.

"Not now that you ruined it by not being in bed," he chuckled. "Though you're lucky you were there to start with and not lying on the floor back there with a concussion."

"I fell?" I gasped.

"You would have if I hadn't caught you," he replied, scowling slightly. "What were you planning? To stay up all night just to to get your proof?"

"If it saves a possibly innocent man, then yes," I growled back at him. "You know as well as I do that everything we have doesn't make sense. So do Parker and Hardison."

His face tightened then relaxed.

"I know," he sighed in defeat. "But we have a deadline to meet, those kids are sitting in hospital and their families need the money."

I had to agree with him there. Those families suffered while I hesitated to take the plunge and do what needed to be done to help them. I sat down next to Elliot and picked at the food he brought. A wave of fatigue and vertigo hit, and I remembered my I'd already taken my pills but before I could warn Elliot, I lost consciousness. When I awoke, it was similar to that of earlier today. I knew that he had helped me too much with my bad behaviour. When I left the room after a shower, I found him in the gym again. This time he noticed as I entered.

"Ms loopy awakes," he chuckled.

"I guess so," I replied, embarrassed beyond mention. "How bad was I?"

"Oh, you were just saying that everyone is stupid and bad at puzzles because we're trying to solve a two piece jigsaw with a missing piece."

He laughed hard at the memory.

"Thanks brain," I growled, face-palming so hard I actually hurt myself.

"It's okay," he said, trying to hide his sniggering. "We all know you're not comfortable going through with the plan. You're brain just wanted to let it out a bit less subtly."

I punched him in the arm but we both knew that it hurt me more than it hurt him.

"I'm glad it seems to be you unlucky enough to meet my drugged other half," I mused as we sat down on the mat; him to start sit-ups.

"Well I'm just surprised you trust yourself so easily to a psycho, a geek and a guy who could easily take out a man larger than himself, let alone a woman."

"I'm not scared at all," I replied breezily. "The first time I met you I wasn't scared. You seem too, hmm, sweet? Is that the word I should use."

I began mumbling to myself trying to find the right description as Elliot looked at me with sheer concern.

"You think I'm sweet?" he scoffed in disbelief. "Me?"

"Well, not sweet per-say," I answered slowly, "More like a crème egg. A hard, cold exterior, but if you crack it, it's all gooey inside."

He laughed at my reference to the Easter-time sweet.

"And I thought you couldn't surprise me any more," he snickered, "You're starting to sound like Parker."

I huffed and folded my arms indignantly.

"Speaking of surprises and Parker behaviour," he continued. "You still haven't explained that business with Sophie, and don't tell me that crap about you being wrong. It hasn't been long since I met you, but nothing escapes your sight."

"I knew you didn't believe me," I growled.

"All the more proof that you know what you see is true," he prompted.

"Sophie is pregnant," I granted. "I just thought it might be nicer if I let her tell you guys to confirm it seeing as it is her having the baby."

"I knew it," he grunted as he lay back to rest. "I'm guessing Nate doesn't know from his reaction."

"Yeah," I confirmed. "He wanted them to go straight if they were going to raise a family, but Sophie thinks they won't be able to manage on clean money with a baby on the way. I convinced her that she still needed to tell him and that he wouldn't let the origins of money stop him from caring for his family properly."

Elliot smirked. "You're pretty good at talking things out with people. Anyone would think you were a grifter if you had a history of it."

I smiled. He decided to continue with his regiment, so I left him to it. In the main room, I was alone with Hardison as he set up everything ready for the meeting in a couple hours. He didn't look at me as I sat next to him and began perusing the documents beside him. There were 34 counts of poor materials in the 200 tested sites. The timeline of the created by Hardison found the oldest site to have been built by the materials was just six months ago, yet the money that had been saved in cutting corners didn't appear to have shown up anywhere. There were no rises in profits during, or after, the changeover, or raise in salaries for anyone in the company, even Eli. The last chance couple of hours to watch the office came up nothing, so Elliot and Hardison left to present their evidence to Eli in in an effort to get him to either change back, step aside or pay the price.

"I can't believe I never figured out the missing link," I grumbled to myself.

"It'll all be over soon," Hardison replied to what essentially was talking to myself.

"I forgot you could hear me, oops." I blushed.

"We'll be there in ten minutes," Elliot added.

I watched the screen as an Eli Markus walked into view. He wasn't alone and it certainly wasn't anyone from the team, or anyone I'd seen in the employee and dealer records.

"I think I found that second piece to the jigsaw," I breathed.

"What?!" chorused back into my ear.


	5. The Missing Piece

**_TADA! A new chapter already? I've been working really hard on this story since I've had some real good inspirational juices flowing through mybrains. I hope y'all like the new chapter. You might find a pleasantly surprising change at the end of this chapter. This will continue into next chapter as well. :) Enjoy~_**

* * *

"Arianna," Elliot's voice growled. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure," I mumbled back, fixated on the new person. "Give me a bit to find out."

I watched as the two men seated themselves in the office.

"I've heard that someone has been snooping around our little playgrounds," the new man stated calmly.

"There has been an investigation into the materials," Eli replied exasperated, mopping his brow with a handkerchief.

"Well you should have gotten rid of them," the brother responded.

"It was too risky. Someone would have noticed their disappearance and that would surely cast the company into doubt."

"You're still worried about the company," the man chuckled darkly. "How cute. Mother always did say you were the more caring one. Not that I cared. I always got the job done because you were too cowardly."

"Listen here Jake," Eli began threatening.

Jake cut him off. "No, you listen. You may have started this company, but it's only at this point today because you asked for my help. How else would you have gotten the money for Mary's treatment? With me keeping all those dirty little files safe for you, there's nothing here to tie you to anything, as long as you can keep your end clean."

"Those kids almost died and you expect me to sit here and continue listening to you spout rubbish about keeping clean?" Eli's voice rose.

"I expect you to keep our deal," Jake replied coldly. "Once you have enough money to pay me for my services, you can end this."

"I can't continue if children will be hurt!" Eli raged.

"Then get better contractors so that we don't have any more errors in construction," chuckled Jake, winking at his elder brother.

Eli sat fuming then as his younger sibling made to leave.

"Oh, by the way," he stopped and turned. "Tell Mary I said hi."

He left.

"I knew it," I breathed excitedly.

"What happened?" Hardison asked.

"You two need to bring Eli back here," I told them. "He isn't our mark any more. He needs our help, just like those kids."

"You've gone crazy," Elliot sighed. "Do you really think this is the best course of action?"

"Do it Elliot, I trust her judgement," Parker supported me.

Muttering to himself about lunatic women, Elliot followed the new plan alongside Hardison. They stayed in character until Eli was safely back to headquarters.

"Where are you taking me?" Eli exclaimed as Elliot handled him in the back entrance.

"I'm sorry mister Markus," I said as he entered the back room. "But we aren't with the Bureau of Investigation. We are a team who was hired to take you down."

"Why would anyone want that?" he asked as he took a seat facing me.

"The collapse of one of your playgrounds raised a lot of red flags to one of the people hired to build it." I informed him. "But we know that it's not your fault that this happened."

"You know?" he gasped, horrified. "How do you know all this?"

I flicked the screen on then, showing the perfect view of his office.

"You've been spying on me?"

"I assure you, it was with the best intentions at heart," I continued. "Those children didn't deserve to be injured in that way. "

Eli sighed. "I know."

"But we also know that it isn't your plan for these things to happen."

"I never wanted anything bad to happen to the children," he admitted. "When I started my company, all I could think of was the joy that it would bring to the kids who played on my playgrounds. My wife, Mary, and I had always wanted children but due to complications, we could never have them. Mary also loved to see children smiling away. She was a grade school teacher when she was young. She told me one day that it was sad that there weren't as many child friendly areas around the city. I did some research after that day and soon Fun in Life was born."

"What happened six months ago?" Hardison asked from a few seats down.

"Mary developed a heart condition," he explained. "It's expensive enough to pay for her treatment, but she just got so bad so quickly that she needs 24 hour hospital care. After few months, we'd burnt up our life savings. That's when Jake showed up. He told me there was a foolproof way for me to be earning more money through the company. I just needed to let him make some cutbacks. So I did. He took over the import of all materials and forged new documents to cover our tracks. After that collapse. I put pressure on him to do the right thing and stop but he wanted more money. He knew he could squeeze more money out my company than he though possible. He won't let me go."

We all sat in silence for a few seconds when Parker zip-lined down in our midst. Eli looked at her in surprise.

"I work for them," she stated nonchalantly.

"So you were all watching me," he uttered. "I can't say I approve."

"It doesn't matter if you approve of us watching," I responded. "It matters what happens to those kids. Now you can either call the cops on us-" I paused. "Or you can let us help you get back control of your company. Are you in or out?"

I held my hand out to him. He looked me in the eyes for a moment, then grasped it firmly.

"Anything to make the children safe again," he agreed, smiling.

After that, Eli went back to his office. His attitude was lighter than any of us had ever seen. He had been a kind-hearted person all along, but now the weight that had tolled on him had been lifted. He trusted us completely to help him get back on track with his company; the dream that his wife had instilled in him.

"I never thought we'd be running a con inside a con," Elliot muttered hours later as we sat down to dinner.

"Yeah," Hardison agreed, chowing down vigorously. "I mean, we'd accounted for a partner in crime but not a change of marks."

"Well we all knew that it couldn't be a straightforward bring down," Parker managed over a mouth full of food.

"Don't talk with your mouth full Parker," Elliot chastised.

She swallowed. "But Arianna was right all along. She knew there was something missing; something important. We all knew she was right but we rushed it."

The boys couldn't find a rebuke to this. Parker was right and they knew it.

"We all need to thank Arianna for saving our behinds," Hardison said, raising a glass.

"To Arianna!" shouted Parker.

"To Arianna," the boys echoed and drank up.

I raised my glass too and smiled. I didn't expect to have been such a large component of my first job and now I was being praised for saving the mission from a horrible catastrophe.

"We should celebrate!" Parker insisted.

"How about after we finish the job?" I suggested.

I was eager to go to sleep after such a long day. Especially since it was now in a comfy bed instead of a hard couch.

"I think Arianna's right," Elliot agreed. "There will be time then. We need to focus on getting the job done seeing as now we have to start all over again."

I nodded gratefully.

"I think I can say this now even though the job ain't over yet," Hardison said looking to the others and then to me. "Welcome to the team Arianna. You alright girl."

Parker clapped enthusiastically, then tackled me in a hug. Hardison clapped too and Elliot just smiled his usual half smile.

We all left for bed soon after and, though I had gotten less than enough sleep the night before, I couldn't help but stair at the roof through the top of the bed frame.

"Why can't I sleep properly?" I sighed as I tossed and turned.

I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep so I left to go do what I always did when I couldn't sleep; search.

Turning my attention to the television and the newest set of bugs that had been set up in the house of Jacob Markus.

Parker had headed there immediately after the meeting in which Eli informed us that his brother had business just outside of the city that day, as well as the fact the he lived alone. The home security system had been a walk in the park for her to avoid. The moon shone through the open windows of Jacob's lounge room. I stared at the screen for what seemed like an hour before the familiar sound of Elliot came to my ears.

"Couldn't sneak up on me this time," I mumbled, smiling.

"I shouldn't have to," he scowled back. "You should be sleeping."

"I can't," I sighed. "I feel tired but the sleep won't come."

"Maybe you should take that medicine at night then," he suggested.

"For some reason the effects don't work if I do," I replied, frowning.

He sat down next to me.

"Will you ever get the right amount of sleep?" he wondered aloud.

"What about you?" I growled. "Every time I'm up, it's you that finds me."

"I only sleep for ninety minutes a day," he responded.

"That's bullshit if I ever heard it," I scoffed. "There's no way you would force yourself to do that unless it was necessary, and right now you don't seem to be in any need to be awake so much."

He scowled at me. "I've had to do it before."

"But is it necessary now?" I questioned.

He remained silent and I took that as a no.

"You don't have to impress me you know?" I mumbled.

"Why would I need to do that?" he growled.

"I don't know," I whispered. "You tell me."

I hopped up from my seat and headed for the kitchen.

"Where do you think you're going?" he called in a hushed voice.

"Maybe if I had a midnight snack would help," I suggested, trying to keep the grin off my face as he rolled his eyes.

"Only if you promise me you'll stay in bed," he sighed in frustration.

I help my pinkie up but with my fingers crossed behind my back.

"You're so childish," he muttered as he passed me towards the kitchen.

He made me a toasted ham and cheese sandwich and we talked for a while after that. I finally felt I couldn't stay up any longer and Elliot helped me to bed.

"Why do you always act so nice to me?" I yawned as I closed my eyes.

I never got his reply.

My dreams that night seemed so surreal. I was back in high school. I was with my ex in my room and he was really mad. I'd made him mad. He ran out. I saw tears on his face, then, black. Next was my sister. She was laughing so hard. She called out to mum who started talking to me. Then she laughed too, losing her balance almost. Black again. I was laying down. Mum was tucking me in. She was crying. I said something and she cried harder. I couldn't hear anything; not mine or anyone else's voices. At last, light came and I roused myself.

_'Now that was weird,'_ I thought to myself

* * *

As I tried to sleep, I couldn't help but notice the murmurs below me. It was Arianna and Elliot again. This was like the zillionth time I'd seen them alone together at night. They left for the kitchen and I lowered myself to the ground. I slipped down the hall to Hardison's room and let myself inside. Hardison was spread eagle on his double bed, snoring away when I pounced on him.

"Parker?" he mumbled in shock. "What the hell you doin' girl?"

"Shh," I silenced him. "They might hear."

"Who?" he questioned.

"Elliot and Arianna," I stated as though it common knowledge.

"Why would they hear me?" Alec asked in frustration.

"Because they're alone together for the zillionth night in a row," I responded, bouncing slightly on my knees.

"Elliot and Arianna?" he questioned and I nodded. "What would they be doing up this late?"

"Do you think they're having sex?" I asked.

He seemed to choke momentarily before saying, "Parker, remember what I said about asking questions like that?"

"I know," I growled and paused. "So, do you?"

He grunted and let his head fall back in the pillows.

"I don't know," he replied finally. "Now can I please go back to sleep. You can join me if you want. It's been a while since you've slept in my room."

"Not just yet," I responded, still thinking. "They went into the kitchen. They wouldn't have sex in there would they? Because that is really unhygienic."

"We don't even know if they are having sex," he rebuked, interrupting my thought pattern. "They've only known each other, what, a week? So I don't think they're getting to that stage yet. If they wanna get cosy, who are we to stop them. So you keep your nose out of it, 'kay?"

"Okay," I mumbled.

"Now you scoot on back to your bat cave and get some sleep," he said with a smile. "Or, you could sleep in here with me."

"Well," I stalled then laughed as he frowned. "Okay but you have to talk to Elliot about it for me."

"What did I just say about keeping out of it?" he exclaimed, the pitch of his voice rising an octave.

I made for the door and Hardison called me back in defeat. I knew how to make him do what I wanted so easily. It made me happy because it showed how much I'd learned from Sophie. I hopped back on the bed and snuggled up close to him.

"You just couldn't leave well enough alone, could ya?" was the last thing I heard before I fell asleep.


	6. The Drama

**_Hey guys! So as you can see, another chapter quickly again. I really wasn't sure about changing the viewpoint to other characters, but i wanted it to be all of them if I did. some tying of loose ends in this chapter and other stuff you have to read to find out. Give me a review to tell me your thoughts on how i've handled each character. I hope I've been able to portray them well. ^_^ Enjoy~_**

* * *

"Man, we need to talk," were not the first words I though I'd hear out of Hardison's mouth early in the morning.

"Sure, what's up?" I asked.

"Now, keep in mind, this wasn't my idea," he added defensively.

I nodded for him to continue.

"Parker's been noticing some night time rendezvous between you and Arianna," he said.

"Stop right there," I interrupted him. "If you mean that in the way I think you do, then you're dead wrong."

"I know," he replied, again with a defensive tone. "But Parker made me promise I'd talk to you about it. She kept asking me 'bout if y'all were doing stuff and I honestly didn't need any mental pictures so I told her to keep out of it. She just twisted my arm to talk to you for confirmation."

"There's nothing going on," I growled, effectively dropping the subject.

"What are you guys mumbling about out here?" Arianna yawned as she appeared just across from my door frame where our conversation had taken place.

"Just guy stuff," I replied.

She gave me a curious look then shrugged. I saw her glance back and I knew I'd be playing 20 questions again later that day.

"You keep telling yourself that," Hardison murmured, his eyes shifting between the two of us.

"I told you, it's nothing!" I slammed the door in his face and went to the shower.

I should have known this would happen sooner or later. I couldn't help but want to look out for the least experienced person to ever be on the team. Her body was weak, even with her mind sharp, if she didn't look after herself enough, it wasn't going to be of any use to the team. Especially since she'd decided sleep deprivation was her pick of poison. I knew first hand that you needed sleep to work at top condition. I'd forced through it in times of need, but no-one else here could do the same. The biggest fear I had was her heart. Not only couldn't she do dangerous field work, but at any time, she could have an episode. Even the drugs she took to prevent it left her with another major opening to attack. She just seemed so fragile, so unlikely to be part of this team of rough and tumble people who could at least hold their own in a one-on-one situation. Hardison was just wrapped a little too tightly around Parker's little finger. There was no doubt it hadn't taken as much of a push for him to talk to me as he'd let on. I'd have to talk to Parker later as well. She did need to keep out of other people's business a bit more. Just because she was more open herself around people than years ago, didn't mean she understood the conventions of normal relationships much better.

"Damn it," I grumbled as I got ready for the day's assignment.

Hardison ran the new info on Jacob Markus that morning after breakfast. It was easy to follow. Jacob, being the youngest, had lived in his successful brothers shadow with all of the companies he managed running straight into the ground. Taking advantage of his brothers company must have been a dream come true. It had obviously started a revenge scheme but with the chance to earn a huge amount of money for doing next to nothing, why would anyone ruin that? All he had to do was sit back, falsify some information and wait as the money flowed in. The past few months he'd bough a new car, sold his house and bough a bigger one, and stated some renovations on the said new house. The renovations were still in motion and it seemed that Jacob wasn't releasing his hold until they were completed, if at all.

"This guy's thing is that he craves the success that he thinks he deserves," Parker took over the session. "We need to give him an offer that is air-tight and fool-proof. He needs to believe he'll get a better deal than his current one. So let's go steal a company."

Just the way she'd learned from Nate. I still couldn't believe he'd groomed Parker as his heir to the mastermind seat, but I had to admit, she had the knack for it. Parker set to work, she continued her false job for Eli, acting as a double agent. She was to be the one to deliver the idea of the company that Hardison had just drawn up documents for. He showed up that day to Eli's request. Another fight between siblings had ensued. This time, Eli was able to get a crack in the cool facade his brother seemed to hold with ease. Having no duties for the day, I went to the gym to keep up my regiment. It wasn't long before I heard the familiar sound of the lock being picked. It took longer than a Parker job so there was only one other person it could be.

"Maybe you should train more at that to get your speed up," I mused as she entered behind me.

"Maybe you should tell me what happened this morning." she replied.

I sighed as I turned to face her. She had that stubborn look on that she always did. I wasn't going to get any peace if I didn't answer her.

"What do you want to know?" I asked, leaning against the punching bag I'd just been working at.

"You and Hardison were talking about me," she replied. "What about me were you talking about? I heard that nothing was going on as well."

Of course the only part she'd heard was her own name and the end of the conversation.

"You really shouldn't eavesdrop you know?" I growled at her.

"And you really shouldn't talk about people behind their backs," she countered.

"It wasn't me that started it, it was him," I admitted.

"And what did he want to know about me?" She continued her question game.

"Parker has been seeing us talking at night and thought, you know," I couldn't continue the thought.

She smiled then asked, "Thought what?"

She knew it. She knew what I meant. This little rat was having too much fun.

"I ain't saying it, okay? So get that outta your head," I growled.

"Fine," she relented. "But why was Hardison talking to you about it?"

"'Cus Hardison has a collar and his master pulled at the leash to get him to question me," I replied scathingly.

She seemed to wince slightly but recovered.

"You don't need to worry that much," she said, the attitude gone from her.

"These people have been my team," I spat. "Now they think I'm keeping stuff from them. I've done it in the past, and it's only come back to bite us. They think I'm doing it again. Do you realise how that feels?"

She stood there a moment, wary of my sudden outburst. I hadn't meant to explode like that. She moved towards me with warmth evident on her face.

"Then tell them," she suggested. "Tell them there's nothing going on. Tell them the truth. I know that they trust you with their lives. If they can't take the truth at face value, then how has it worked for all these years?"

She had a point. Only in times when secrets were kept hidden did the team suffer. As soon as all came into the light, everything had gotten back on track. This time was different though. They weren't just questioning me and my word, but someone else; a new team mate that we'd all come to be fond of. I knew it without even asking the other two. Parker had bonded with her quickly, so far as to teach her to pickpocket within the first few hours of having met. She had that geekiness in loving games that linked her quickly to Hardison. As for me, I just didn't know yet, but the others had obviously found something.

"Let's go then," I urged as I left the room.

Hardison was setting up more information on our 'Business' when we found him in the main room.

"Hey y'all," he said with a knowing smile.

"Can it Hardison," I snapped.

"Who spat in your morning coffee?" he mumbled.

"You did," I replied angrily. "When you wanted that 'talk.' You know Arianna overheard us, right?"

His eyes widened as he looked to Arianna who glared at him. He immediately went on the defensive.

"Hey, I told you, it was Parker's idea," he said, raising his only defence.

I stuck an ear bud in my ear and called Parkers attention as Arianna put hers in too.

"Now everyone listen to me," I said as the team listened. "Especially you Parker. I don't want anyone doubting anyone else on the team. That includes with regards to personal relationships. I will say this once. Nothing is happening between me and Arianna. I don't want either of you two to start playing rumour mill behind our backs, if you have any problems you face the team. We act as a team no matter what. We do not need dissent in our ranks. We are strong and always in the past secrets have caused harm. So I won't keep any if you guys trust me not to."

There was silence at the end of my speech in which Arianna looked at me gratefully and Hardison looked completely torn down.

The only hint of the presence of Parker was when the silence was broken as she asked, "What does dissent mean?"

"It basically means not working together properly," Arianna answered.

"But I want us to work together properly," she said in a more confused tone.

"Then you need to trust us to tell you the truth," I reiterated.

"I trust you," she confirmed after a pause. "Sorry I thought you two were having sex."

The three of us broke at that. Trust Parker to be too straightforward. Arianna looked torn between surprise, laughter and worry, Hardison had let his head hit the desk and I simply groaned.

"Parker, what have we told you about saying stuff like that?" I complained.

"Oops, sorry," she apologised more cheerfully at her slip in memory.

"Is she always like this?" Arianna asked seriously.

Hardison and I looked at each other and grinned, both replying with, "It's Parker."

I couldn't believe Parker had actually slipped up for a second time in mentioning sex within twenty-four hour period. That girl really needed to remember to mind herself more carefully. With Elliot's eyes now on me I sighed and apologised too. He was right. We were more than a team; we were family, and we needed to trust each other and have each other's backs. I had his. Even if it seemed like there was something more between them, evidently there wasn't anything going on behind closed doors. Elliot rarely got passionate about anything like this, so I knew he could be nothing but honest. Besides, he was like a bro to me. He would come to me if he really did get serious about Arianna. If I were honest, I hoped he would. Elliot was the last of the team to settle for a girl. It was obviously hard with Nate and Sophie pairing up, then me and Parker. The only woman you could really keep with a job like this was someone who was in it with you. The moving around and constantly being cut off from anyone you know otherwise made it near impossible. With Arianna an official member now, he had the chance, though I didn't think he'd thought too much on the subject, being a workaholic and all.

"Thanks for understanding man," Elliot said to me, clasping hands with each other in the way we usually did.

"'S all good," I replied. "I didn't mean to make y'all think we didn't trust you."

"Well you're lucky I didn't get Elliot here to take you out," Arianna laughed jokingly.

"I could take him easily," I joked back, throwing in some air punches.

"Yeah, right," Elliot breathed as he rolled his eyes at the two of us.

"Hey, just 'cus Arianna can take a good joke," I said in her defence, still laughing.

It was good to have someone who could take a good joke on the team. Everyone else had always brushed it aside when I tried to be funny. Arianna high-fived me then turned and poked her tongue at Elliot. It was funny to see an unknowing relationship bloom from the outside. When Parker and I had found our feelings for each other, we didn't know what to make of them. The other team-mates had seen the signs before us, especially Sophie. Seeing Arianna and Elliot made me realise how easy it was to see the signs early. It had probably been there with Nate and Sophie, but with her lying capabilities and Nate's intelligence, they could easily hide it before we realised what had happened between them. Elliot and Arianna seemed completely clueless of how they looked together. Spending time together alone, confiding in each other and being at each other playfully all the time, it made me wonder why I had been surprised when Parker had suggested something was going on. Though I had to admit, the mention of sex may have caused that.

"Did you really think we were?" Arianna asked,without finishing the question.

"I didn't really," I replied honestly. "Y'all have known each other too short a time to have made that leap. It was Parker and her brain that suggested that little detail."

"Hey, I said sorry," Parker's voice sounded in my ear.

"I know babe," I laughed. "It's okay."

"What exactly made her think that?" Arianna continued to question me.

"Something about zillionth time alone at night," I answered. "And unhygienic to do that in the kitchen."

She laughed at that one and mumbled, "Oh, Parker, I worry about you."

"I worry about you guys a lot too," she replied, seemingly innocent of the connotation in Arianna's voice.

She still had a lot to learn. If only Sophie was still here to teach her. No matter how many times Elliot and I tried, she never seemed to get the concept. With Sophie, she soaked up the knowledge faster, but she and Nate were on their way to their happily ever after in marriage. I wondered vaguely when they might actually have kids, if at all. Arianna seemed to have thought that had already come to pass. Thinking on it now, I realised how she never seemed to be wrong in anything she said. Except when Sophie had visited. That didn't seem to sit right with me now that I thought about it.

"Hey," I started and Arianna looked at me. "When you asked Sophie if she was pregnant, were you really wrong?"

She did a double take, obviously surprised.

"Why are you thinking about that?" she asked.

"Just that everything you've felt and said has been right, 'cept that one time. It doesn't seem like you to get that sort of thing wrong."

Elliot groaned from the couch where he'd seated himself and Arianna copied. Elliot got out a phone and signalled for me to wait.

"Yeah, I know and Hardison's asking," he said to the person on the other end. "She thinks you should tell the other two."

He handed me the phone and Sophie's voice rang in my ear from the small speaker.

"It's true, I am pregnant," she said.

I almost dropped the phone in surprise.

"So much for no secrets," I mumbled, looking between them.

"You know it wasn't our place to tell," Arianna replied, placing a hand on my free one.

I had to admit she was right. Hell, I couldn't stay mad with such a genuine expression staring me in the eyes.

"Congrats girl," I said to Sophie who squeaked in excitement. "When's the bubba due?"

"I'm only in the first trimester, so a while off yet," she replied, still obviously overjoyed. "Nate's excited too, but he's been busy trying to make me out as a sick woman. You have no idea how over-protective he's being right now."

"Hey, I just want to look after the two most important things in my life," came Nate's voice distantly.

"Don't you let him take all your freedom Sophie," I encouraged. "Y'all are gonna need that space if you're to keep sane."

"Thank you Hardison," Sophie said. "I've needed someone on my side."

"Well I'll let y'all get back to planning your fairy tale, 'kay?" I laughed.

"I'll talk to you soon okay?" Sophie replied before we hung up.

The next thing I heard was, "Is Sophie going to be a princess?" as Parker joined in the half of the conversation she could hear. "And I thought only queens could have babies so they would be the princes and princesses."

This was gonna be a long explanation.


	7. The Win

_**Well, it's been a while but here's a new chapter. I'm finally thinking of a back story for Arianna so you can expect some more chapter sooner, hopefully. I hope you like the direction i'm taking this, and once again, any feedback would be very much appreciated. Enjoy~ :)**_

* * *

It was taking all our concentration to keep going with the job for a few days but we gradually relaxed into a routine again. Hardison was having more trouble leaving it in the past though. Parker was at him non-stop about the fairy tale crack he'd made about Sophie and Nate. Apparently there was more proof to the princess theory that Parker had than I'd be told. Still, it seemed like things got back on track since the air was cleared.

"He's really buying it," Parker mused one night. "I find it funny how people believe us so easily. I wouldn't believe us."

I giggled. "Do you think that might have something to do with the fact you know it's a con?"

"No," she replied simply.

I had to stare at her for a few moments to get her to elaborate.

"Well, when I was little, I trusted barely anyone," she explained. "Everyone managed to break my trust."

"Well maybe these people have been able to trust others more in the past," I suggested.

"But that's silly," she responded. "Trust gets you hurt."

"You trust us don't you?" I asked seriously.

She blinked when she realised her error.

"Yeah," she admitted sheepishly. "I didn't to start with. Maybe you just need the right people to trust."

"A bunch of thieves?" I inquired sceptically.

"Exactly!" she exclaimed.

I laughed so hard at the irony. Though, thinking about it, I had to admit I was doing the same thing.

"You're definitely right there," I agreed as I jumped off the sofa.

It didn't help my shotty balance when Parker caught me off-guard by asking, "Do you like Elliot."

"Parker," I sighed, "I thought we discussed this."

"No, no, no," she said, shaking her head. "Not as in sex. I mean as like friends."

"Okay," I groaned. "One: sex is not a synonym for relationship, two: yes, I like you all as my friends. "

She beamed as she joined me in going to check on dinner. Elliot had recently challenged Hardison to try cooking as well as he could in one of their, it's-just-food-versus-it's-an-art, fights. It was going dreadfully to say the least. Think smoke was issuing from a pot. The fire alarm had long been disabled due to the continuous stream of high pitched noise that would be going off if it hadn't. Elliot was watching as Hardison made a huge mess of the kitchen.

"Hardison, just admit it," called Elliot over the sounds of Hardison's bad cooking. "You can't cook, and it's harder than you thought."

"Hell no!" Hardison spat back, trying to get a pot under control after it had bubbled over with some gooey unidentifiable substance.

"We don't have to eat that, do we?" I mumbled as I reached Elliot.

"Nah," he chuckled, "I ordered pizza ten minutes ago."

I breathed a sigh of relief on;y to choke on some fumes issuing from the pot of goo. Not a minute before the pizza arrived did Hardison admit that Elliot was right. We could all see him trying to hold back from his defeat after he found out none of us had any hope in his cooking abilities and were eager to get the pizza inside. As punishment for his naivety of the art of cooking, Hardison had to clean the kitchen by himself and, adding insult to injury, take a cooking lesson from Elliot. Parker slipped out to the kitchen when Elliot left for bed, and I tucked myself in soon after.

My dreams that night were as eerie as they had been the first night they began. They were all memories, but they weren't my own. I had never had these experiences in my life, but they were definitely me. I couldn't explain how weird it was.

When I finally woke up, I felt so drained, even though I'd had at least ten hours straight sleep. As I pushed up from my pillows, I couldn't help but fall back down. This was not going to help me. Today is the day we close on the mark. We had all the traps planted and there was no escape left. I finally managed to stumble to my en-suite and take my medicine when a familiar knock caught my attention.

"Come in," I called, "But expect loopy in about ten minutes."

"Well I'd better take this back to be heated in an hour again," Elliot's voice responded.

"Yep," I agreed. "Plus I'm too beat to eat anything right now."

"You didn't have another midnight surveillance call did you?" he asked seriously.

"No," I yawned, "Just weird dreams ruining my sleep."

"Have you had them before?" he questioned.

"No," I replied as I joined him sitting on the bed. "Only the last few days."

He fell into silent though for a few minutes but noticeably shook himself out of it.

"Well you better get some more sleep now," he said after a few moments.

I knew I should have asked, but I just felt so tired that I seemed to drop off sooner than usual. There were no dreams in my induced sleep so I slept peacefully. I guessed it had been a little too peaceful when another know woke me almost two hours later.

"Yeah," I slurred quickly as I tried to clear my blurry mind.

"If you wanna see us close the mark, y'all better get that butt in gear girl," Hardison's dull voice answered from behind the closed door.

"M'kay," I groaned sleepily.

I got up as quickly as my legs would allow and trudged to the lounge. I instantly fell back on the couch and let my head rest on whoever's shoulder. I watched the large screen as Jacob started running his "foolproof, quick money making" business. In just a few hours, it all came crashing around him. This was thanks to Hardison mass posting bad reviews of the business as widespread across the internet as possible. Emails were sent to everyone that Parker had listed as great potential clients to Jacob warning them the he was a con-artist and to pass on the message. After burning through the client list, he tried random numbers. Luckily, Hardison had also hacked these to go the same phone; his. Obviously he let all of us take turns in character to tell him off. A press release had been set up as well as many online publishers posting degrading reviews on the scandal. At the press release, Eli said that it was very saddening and shameful that his brother had come to act in such a way, and that he was very much happy to refund any money he had taken from anyone. Many people came forward afterwards, trying to squeeze some money from Eli, but all were turned away as he knew they were all fraudulent. Eli thanked us immensely and was able to reinstate his usual procedures. He offered to pay for our work, but instead received half of the money that we'd gotten from Jacob as 'start-up' money. The rest was split between us and I was astounded to receive just as much as the others.

"But you all did more than me," I tried to reason as I stared and the fifty thousand dollar cheque.

"If it wasn't for you, we would have closed on the wrong mark," Elliot replied as he cracked open a celebratory beer and passed it to Hardison.

"Can you imagine how bad things would have gone if we'd closed on Eli?" Hardison asked as he took a sip. "That old man has tried to do nothing but good in his life. It's not his fault he got taken advantage of like that."

"And he's even tearing down all the bad playgrounds and rebuilding them," Parker added. "And he's looking after his wife. He even said he found a way to cut costs and recycle at the same time without sacrificing the safety of the kids."

I still couldn't believe the amount of zeros on the small piece of paper in my hand.

"And don't worry about cashing either," Hardison chuckled. "We have you a one hundred percent safe account with Leverage incorporated set up. So you just have to put it in there and no questions asked about where it came from."

I was still baffled at how easy it was to steal from people and get away with it, but I knew that if was with these three, it was definitely for all the right reasons.

"To us, I guess," I called as we all toasted and sat down to Elliot and Hardison's home cooked dinner.

"It's edible!" Parker gasped in awe.

The hurt on Hardison's face was poorly masked.

"Oh come on Hardison," I nudged him encouragingly. "After last night's fiasco, can you blame her."

"Nah," he admitted grudgingly. "But y'all should still have more faith in my skills as a cook."

"If you don't keep up with my lessons, no-one's going to even have faith when you cook 2-minute noodles," Elliot added.

Both Parker and I laughed with Hardison joining in when he truly remembered how bad the kitchen had been to clean.

"There aren't any clients lined up for a while," Parker informed us when the laughter died.

"That's good," I breathed in relief. "I have to head back to Australia soon."

"What!?" exclaimed the three thieves.

"Not forever," I added, shaking my head. "My brother is getting married soon, and I need to change my visa to a working one."

"Why don't you just move over here?" Parker suggested.

I hesitated. I'd though about it, but I had relied so much on my family, it felt unnatural to be away from home for so long. I had my suspicions that the reason I couldn't sleep well was homesickness.

"I'll have to think about it," I replied. "It's a big step. I mean, I had trouble enough trying to move out within an hours drive of home, a different country is a whole other thing."

The silence after I said this stretched to awkward lengths. I guess they had really though of me as a new, permanent, member of the team.

"I don't know about y'all, but I think Arianna should stay with us," Hardison announced breaking the silence. "But if you need to figure things out, then you take your time. We'll always wait for you to come back."

"Here-here!" slurred Parker in agreement.

"Baby, have you been drinking my beer again?" Hardison groaned.

"Maybe a teenie bit," she replied, laughing hard enough to spill said beer which was still in her hand.

"Wow," I mused into the now lighter atmosphere. "I've never thought of how Parker would be when she's drunk."

"Trust me, you don't want to know," Elliot replied seriously, helping Hardison lift her.

He grabbed some padlocks without keys on the way through to Hardison's room. When Elliot returned he explained that Parker goes super thief when she's drunk, wanting to unlock everything in the premises and sometimes sneaking out on a crime-spree. Luckily it was only rare and they'd been able to devise a plan to keep her safely cooped up.

"So she just sits there and tries to teach Hardison to pick a lock?" I laughed. "And he pretends he can't get it so she just opens it herself then they do it over again on a new lock?"

"Yep," Elliot breathed as he cleaned the table. "It keeps her busy, plus she wants Hardison to learn so badly in that state that she doesn't give up until she falls asleep."

"Sneaky," I giggled as I helped him. "It must suck for Hardison though."

"Not really," he replied, shrugging. "He loves her, and the way she can do that stuff. Plus he thinks it's, quote: 'Adorable as to see her get frustrated but still try for his sake.' unquote."

I just smiled at that. It had such a sweet sentiment.

"It's getting late," Elliot said, breaking through my thoughts. "You should get some sleep with your track record."

I groaned but didn't fight it; I'd been yawning all day so I knew he was right. It still didn't make me want to sleep though. I was still excited from how the plan had come together in the end and how good it felt to help put a stop to someone like that. I turned from drying the dishes as I yawned yet again.

"Goodnight," Elliot called as I left.

I just waved back in response.

That night's sleep wasn't any better than the night before. The dreams were even more weird though. I was seven. I was watching my sister walk along. I tried to warn her. She wouldn't listen and by the time she did, it was too late. I jumped in the way just in time to save her. Waking up it occurred to me. I don't have a sister. Not one that lived past birth anyway. I tried to put the morbid thoughts out of my head as I went to take my medicine. I thought I might as well go see if Elliot was almost done breakfast so I could tell him that I wouldn't need it until later. When I got there, I looked up at the clock and realised how early it was. I normally wouldn't be awake for at least two more hours and Elliot was nowhere to be seen. I knew there was one place he probably was though. No self-respected exercise freak would give up the morning cool. I wandered down to the gym and sure enough, there he was. When he saw me, he was really surprised.

"This is the earliest I've seen you awake," he said as he continued jogging on the treadmill.

"Well if I'd realised it was this early before getting up I would have gone back to sleep," I replied.

"Dreams again?" he asked and I nodded.

He stopped jogging and began his cool down stretches.

"Maybe you should see a doctor," he suggested as he joined me on the floor.

I laughed. "Get tested by a shrink to see if my loopy is getting worse, not likely."

"You never know," he breathed. "I mean the drug is experimental, right?"

"Yea- wait! How do you know that?" I asked incredulously.

"You told me," he sighed and rolled his eyes, "While you were her."

"Her?" I questioned.

I never heard his reply before waking up two hours later back in bed.

"Again?" I growled at myself.

I wondered what random stuff I'd said to Elliot this time but secretly thanked myself for letting him be the only one to see that side of me. I didn't want everyone worrying if I had gone bonkers.

I got up and headed to the kitchen where breakfast was actually being cooked this time. Taking a spot on an empty part of the bench I sighed and braced myself.

"What did I say this time?"

"Nothing much," he replied nonchalantly.

"That's bull and we both know it," I growled.

He didn't reply for a few moments and kept cooking. I tapped impatiently and he relented.

"You kept saying this stuff about when you were seven," he said finally.

"What did I say?" I asked curiously.

He was silent again but surprised me by asking a question about something I'd never told anyone.

"Who is Katheryn?"


	8. The Real Arianna

**_Wow! Big developments! We've hit 20, 000 words! Thank you to all those who read, followed and reviewed. I'm soo glad you like this. This is an intense chapter so hold on to your hats. Once again, review with anything you find wrong, you like or dislike, and even suggestions. Enjoy~ :3_**

* * *

"Did I tell you that name?" I half shouted in surprise.

"Easy," he warned. "And sort of."

"How is there a sort of in there?" I questioned.

"Just, there is," he blustered. "Now are you gonna answer or not?"

"I don't see why I should," I replied stubbornly. "That's something that only my family knows and I don't think I'm ready to share such a private thing."

"Fine," he said shortly. "You just had to say that to start with. No need to get snippy at me for being curious."

"Well-" I cut off for lack of words and stormed off back to my bedroom.

I knew I'd overreacted, but even after all these years, I still wasn't able to face it. I should have known when he's said seven that it would have something to do with her. Well, me, I guess. It shouldn't affect me much, but it was just one of those things you don't let go of. I wish I could remember before the accident, back to when I was Katheryn.

Tears fell before I noticed them and I scrubbed my face clean on my sleeves. I had to stop thinking before it became too much again. I trusted Elliot, but not enough for my past to come to light just yet.

There was a knock at the door then and I had to rub my face again before opening it. To my surprise, it was Hardison. One look and I could tell he knew something was wrong.

"What's up?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Nothing."

"Don't lie to me," he warned.

I sighed.

"Elliot just found out something that's incredibly personal to me," I replied. "And I snapped a bit."

"How would he find out to start with if it's such a big secret for you?" he asked.

Everyone was going to find out anyway.

"The medicine for my heart makes me blank out but still say stuff without me remembering," I rambled quickly with my eyes closed.

"And so you told him some secret while you were whacked out on heart drugs?" he summarised.

"Yes," I breathed.

"So why don't you want us to know your secret?" Parker asked as her head popped in the doorway over Hardison's shoulder.

I groaned. Make that, everyone has found out.

"Because it's painful to remember," I admitted. "And it's only my family who knows. So if you wouldn't mind, I need a bit of time to myself."

"Okay," Hardison agreed, throwing Parker a warning glance as she opened her mouth. "Rest up and take it easy."

"Thank you," I breathed, closing the door as they left.

I tried to remember my conversation with Elliot from before. He'd said something about being "her." He knew more than just that name, but I still couldn't bring myself to find out how much more. All I felt like doing was lying in bed. No-one disturbed me past Parker bringing food to my room. They knew I needed my space and I guessed Elliot did more so, either that, or he was hiding from me being angry at him. I wasn't, but I did feel better that he had put the thought in. Only once dinner time rolled around and the knock came at my door, I decided to join everyone. They were apprehensive at first, but as I joined in their light hearted conversations, we all eased into a calm evening.

"And then the guard looked at me like I was crazy," Parker laughed at her own story.

"That's because you are crazy," Elliot chuckled.

"Yeah, but how would he know that?" she asked innocently.

Both I and the boys laughed harder.

"Well I feel like going for a jog," I groaned, stretching out my body. "I need some movement after a day in bed."

I got up and headed down the hall towards the gym. What I'd said was only half true and I hoped that the message had been heard.

I didn't have to worry as the footsteps of the team's hitter echoed behind me.

"So are you gonna spaz out on me again?" he asked as he caught the closing door.

I climbed onto the treadmill and input the settings I liked, avoiding his eyes as I did so.

"Look, I know you want to talk to me," he growled. "Now come out with it."

I sighed and looked at him.

"I don't know if I'm ready," I groaned. "But I need to know how much I told you."

He held my gaze as I jogged to keep pace with the machine. His face was so focused it was almost as if I could see his mind working.

"Fine," he exhaled. "But I need some answers from you too."

I sighed. There was no way I was going to avoid the subject on my end. I stopped the machine and sat down in my usual spot on the floor and Elliot joined me.

"So, what do you want to know?" I asked.

"Who is Katheryn?" he began our game of 21 questions.

"Well, I'm not sure how to say it," I replied hesitantly. "I guess you could say it was me."

Surprise crossed his features as he repeated, "Was?"

I nodded.

"You see, I wasn't born with my heart condition. I acquired it when I was about seven, I think. It was from an accident. The damage isn't actually to my heart, though, but to my brain. I'm lucky to moving and coherent, let alone alive. What's damaged is a part called the medulla oblongata. It basically controls everything automatic, like breathing and heart rate, but its right here-" I winced in pain as I touched the scar on my neck. "-in the brain stem so it affects motor control as well. When I first woke up, I was paralysed. I couldn't speak and I had to have a respirator to keep me going. Only after I began speaking again did they find out I had amnesia. I thought my name was Arianna but past that, I had no recollection of anything before waking up. My mother cried when I told her my name was Arianna."

"So who is Arianna then?" Elliot asked, interrupting my train of thought.

"Legally, I am now, but Mum told me that was the name she had chosen for my twin sister before she lost her in childbirth. She said she'd told me it years before but of course, I didn't remember."

I stopped then. The memories of the scariest part of my life were becoming overwhelming.

"What kind of accident was it?" He continued.

"No-one has ever told me because no-one could figure it out," I replied, holding my head as if to try and block everything out. "Someone anonymous called the ambulance. They never came forward and I've always thought that they might have something to do with what happened to me."

He nodded. "That makes sense."

I stopped again. My heart pounded in my ears. I squeezed my eyes closed and took quick, shallow breaths. I felt a worm hand on my shoulders and looked up.

"I'm okay," I lied unconvincingly.

"You can stop you know," he said softly, slowly rubbing my arm.

I relaxed a little, but it was still hard.

"I want to," I breathed. "I need to face it, I just don't know how."

"We can get you some help."

I laughed. "You want me to see a shrink so he can confirm that I'm nuts."

"You're falling apart," he muttered. "You need someone to help you."

"I'm tired," I said abruptly, finding my way onto my uneasy feet. "Goodnight."

I didn't want him to follow me but I knew he would. He didn't say anything as he helped me to my room except for bidding me goodnight.

He was right. I had to admit it to my logical based brain, but the emotionally scarred part screamed curses at him for even suggesting I talk to some weird doctor who would just say what I knew already. The same thing the one did years ago when I went then. I somehow managed to let sleep claim me but the dreams that night were more tormenting than the waking memories and by the time I woke up, I knew what I had to do.

* * *

**_Elliot_**

"Don't worry," I repeated for what seemed like the millionth time. "This guy is the best. He's specially trained to deal with people with far worse problems than you could ever dream."

"Somehow, I don't believe you," Arianna grumbled from the passenger seat.

I groaned. I knew that her problems were deep, and I wouldn't take her to anyone but the best, but sometimes she just acted like a little kid who didn't want to get a flu shot. Not that I blamed her. I used to have the same problems when I was a rookie.

I shivered. I had to admit she had every right to act that way.

"Well it's going to be about a three hour drive," I told her. "So if you want to get your loopy on, you may as well do it."

She eyed me off sceptically then said, "You just want to talk to the crazy me."

"Maybe," I chuckled.

She took her medicine and I focused on the road. I only had about 15 minutes until the effects came on. I locked the doors.

"I'm not going to do a runner," she scowled from the corner of my eye.

"I know, but this part of the city is notorious for carjackings," I laughed.

Her eyes bulged slightly and she quietened down after double checking her door lock.

"So, this shrink is a friend of yours?" she asked awkwardly.

"Yeah," I replied. "And he's really good. 100% success rate last I heard."

"And when did you hear last?" she questioned judgingly.

"About 20 years ago," I said then laughed at her expression. "I'm kidding, I saw him at New Year's when he invited me to a party."

She relaxed then slumped slightly in her seat. This was it. I double locked the doors and braced myself.

It was slow at first, but every other time it had been. Her eyes opened and she stared around as if in a daze.

"You know I told you not to do this," growled Katheryn.

"You know she needs it," I rebuked.

"What she needs is to stay in darkness!" She shouted. "You know it's best if she doesn't remember! You saw how she reacted just thinking about what she does! She's too fragile!"

"If she's so weak, why can't you break her hold?" I questioned angrily.

She sighed.

"I told you, ever since the accident, she subconsciously blocked me. I think it was when she jumped into control right as it happened."

"Which she'd never been able to do before," I continued, having remembered our previous conversations.

"If you remember then why did you put her through this?" she raged.

"You both need to get over this accident and get back to the way it's supposed to be," I retorted.

"Don't play stupid," she grimaced. "I've seen the way you look at us. You know you want her."

"Don't say things like that!" I growled.

"Fine," she relented, stretching her arms out and relaxing. "Deny it all you want, you know it's true and so do I. I also happen to know that she's blissfully unaware. So if you want to keep it that way, take me and my sister home."

"That's an empty threat and you know it," I laughed darkly. "You have no power to communicate with her. What can you do?"

She crossed her arms and snorted at that, but she finally stayed quiet. We made the trip in another five minutes. I felt bad for lying to Arianna, but I needed Katheryn to talk first, and there was no other way.

She struggled as I led her to the clinic doors. Her nails scratched at my hands but the pain was minimal compared to my standards.

"Elliot!" I heard as I entered with uncompliant girl in tow.

"Doctor Roswood!" I greeted him with a quick, firm handshake.

"Am I to assume this is the patient?" he asked, motioning to the girl now hidden behind me.

"Yes, and you need to start immediately. We have limited time with her," I warned.

He beckoned us follow and Katheryn fought harder than ever.

"Just do it," I grumbled in her ear.

"No!" she shouted back.

We entered a room and I sat her down in the chair next to me and across from Doctor Roswood.

"Now you mentioned her names being to Katheryn and Arianna," he said, getting straight down to business. "Which alter am I speaking to now?"

"This is Katheryn, the original from what I've been told," I replied with my hand still holding hers firmly.

"So Katheryn, I see you have your doubts in my ability to resolve your situation," he continued, glancing at my hand.

"I know we don't need you!" she shouted. "My Ari is strong, and I can take care of her."

"Yet, you have no means of doing so," he stated bluntly.

She hesitated then sat down dejectedly and mumbled, "Yeah."

"Why do you feel it is your obligation to take care of your 'sister' rather than having her cared for by people who can work through her issues?"

"Because it's my fault she has those problems," she replied, putting her head in her hands.

I let her arm go.

"Could you explain?" Roswood continued.

She sighed. "I used to be the only one who could choose when we swapped. She was weaker and didn't have the power to against me. I always had to protect her by jumping in just in time to take any kind of problems. The only time she ever managed to force a change, I wasn't paying attention to her. I heard her say she felt like something was coming but I ignored her. She was always over conscious of our surroundings but most of the time it was unfounded. The one time she really needed protection, she was the one to protect me."

"Why do you think it is that you are now subconsciously locked away?" He asked, using some of the information I'd told him in advance.

"It's because she was in control. She was the one to take the hit. We both don't remember anything about what happened. They came from behind and we didn't see them coming. Because she took the hit, her memories are lost. It gave her some kind of a protection mechanism. Like when she forced me away, I was kept locked away for protection but she doesn't even remember me. I'm just 'loopy' to her. And that boy was an asshole that's why I insulted his size," she added, looking at me.

I laughed remembering the reference. I saw a small smile cross her features before she turned back to Roswood.

"Now if you're going to help my Ari, then do it, but I want her to find out about me herself," she demanded.

"I agree," he replied, nodding. "After all, she would probably reject the notion without proof."

Katheryn nodded and turned to me.

"She's gaining hold again," Katheryn said. "You are the only one she trusts, so I have to if she does. Her instincts are sharp, as well as her skills, but I'll keep your secret and let you give it away yourself. See you next time, but I hope not."

"What secret?" I questioned, but she was gone.

Her body slumped and I knew it would be some time before Arianna returned.

"That was quite interesting," Doctor Roswood mused.

"This is why I came to you," I told him. "You're the best I know and her condition is so complex."

"It's not as bad as it seems," he stated. "It is a deep rooted condition, but the majority of the problems surfacing now are just on the surface. These are caused by the physical injuries they suffered. The true problems will reveal themselves once these have been resolved. The fact that she has another identity is cause for concern at the events prior to this mystery accident."

"I know," I admitted. "But what do you think is causing Katheryn to gain more of her original power."

"It is quite possibly the medication," he suggested. "As you may know, injuries like hers are not recovered from albeit rarely. She is indeed lucky to stand today. With recovery rates so low, the long term effects are less known and as such, medication is scarce. This medication is experimental. It's full list of side effects is yet unknown. As she already had a pre-existing condition, the effects become more varied. This medication is designed to give the brain a 'restart,' if you will. This refresh must leave a subconscious gap in which Katheryn may slip through. Since they have taken this medicine for a long amount of time, it seems she has used her time in control to extend her power. She should be able to switch willingly soon enough if my predictions are correct."

"Switch, what?" a dreary voice came from the stirring girl beside me.

"We got here and I was just talking to Doctor Roswood here about what you told me," I quickly told her.

"Oh," she mumbled. "Shouldn't I do that so he can gauge my emotional climate whilst recalling the events?"

Even half asleep, she was sharp.

* * *

**_Okay, I had to write this so I don't get any bad comments. I completely made up the medical condition but based it on facts I've read about the injuries. I'm not sure if her symptoms are what would actually occur for what happened if they occurred in real life and that is why it's made up. But based on the facts of the injury in question, such as the area of the brain and what it controls, the symptoms are PLAUSIBLE. Thank you for understanding._**


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